Bombing of Darwin (1942) (Bismarck Dominates Sea Lanes)
The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was one of the largest single attacks ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 1,196 Japanese aircraft, in six separate raids, launched from ten IJN aircraft carriers (''Musashi'', ''Shinano'', ''Hakuryu'', Yonaga, ''Amagi'', ''Akagi'', ''Tosa'', ''Kaga'', ''Owari'', ''Hiryū'' and ''Sōryū'') attacked the town, ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasion of Timor and Java during World War II. The town was only lightly defended and the Japanese inflicted very severe losses upon the Allied forces at little cost to themselves. The urban areas of Darwin also suffered heavy damage from the raids and there were a large number of civilian casualties. The attack would be followed by Battle of Darwin, as part of the invasion of Australia by Empire of Japan in June 1943. Darwin was an very important naval base, home to the bulk of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), which included the two Incomparable-class super battlecruisers [[HMAS Australia (Incomparable-class battlecruiser) (Bismarck Dominates Sea Lanes)|HMAS Australia]] and [[HMAS Victora (Incomparable-class battlecruiser) (Bismarck Dominates Sea Lanes)|HMAS Victoria]] (the two battlecruisers were mounted with the largest naval artillery ever built in the Pacific, six 50.8 cm (20.0 in) guns in three twin gun turrets) and the 91,000-tonnes very large heavy aircraft carrier [[HMAS Melbourne (Lafayette-class aircraft carrier) (Bismarck Dominates Sea Lanes)|HMAS Melbourne]], all which were in anchor. With so powerful warships being active in the Royal Australian Navy, the very existence of these warships were a serious threat to the Imperial Japanese Navy. When the main bulk of the Royal Australian Navy were stationed at Darwin, the Japanese began planning to to carry out aerial attacks against the Allies in the South Pacific. 1,200 aircraft were allocated to ten aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy's ''Kidō Butai'', to be used in aerial attacks against primary targets in the South Pacific and Australia. On 19 February 1942, Darwin was heavily bombed by 1,200 aircraft, launched in six waves from ten Japanese aircraft carriers. Meanwhile, the Japanese super battleships Super Yamato, Satsuma, ''Yokozuna'', ''Settsu'', ''Kii'', ''Number 13'' and ''Hiraga'' and the Japanese battlecruisers ''Aratama'', ''Amagi'' and ''Akagi'' attacked Darwin off shore, opening fire with their massive naval artillery on marked targets. HMAS Australia and HMAS Victoria were not in Darwin at the time, and escaped the attack unharmed despite having engaged the Japanese battlecruisers. Amagi and Akagi were severe damaged due to the six massive 50.8 cm (20.0 in) guns in three twin gun turrets mounted on HMAS Australia and HMAS Victoria. After taking such severe hits, Amagi and Akagi later sank and were put out of commission. They would, however be salvaged and put back in service in mid-1943. Darwin was completely destroyed and left in ruins after the bombing, with over 10,000 casualties and most ships of the Royal Australian Navy being sunk or heavily damaged.